"This incident has led to the biggest crisis of confidence between Turkish and US forces," chief of staff Hilmi Ozkok told reporters as he received the US ambassador to Ankara, Robert Pearson, who is leaving Turkey at the end of his term.

"I find it difficult to evaluate this merely as a local incident," Ozkok added.

The eleven Turkish soldiers were arrested on July 4 in Sulaymaniyah in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, and were released late Sunday.

US officials said the troops were detained along with other suspects on "suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to harm Iraqi civilian officials in northern Iraq."

WAR.WIRE